by Serena H.
In the past few years, social media has grown and developed in some awesome and not so great ways. It has increased connections for many people and provided numerous opportunities in our society for discussion. With that in mind, social media has also become overrun with political memes, misinformation and negativity. It would leave no doubt that everyone needs a break every once in a while.
Will Poulter took that stance at the new year. He explained in a recent tweet that he wants to create a different relationship with his social media and, that moving forward, he’s making changes with his Twitter involvement, including activity with bullying campaigns and other organizations. He also mentions the need for this change revolving around him caring for his mental health.
It isn’t uncommon for celebrities to take hiatuses from social media for miscellaneous personal reasons. Being in the public eye and having people constantly analyzing what you say can be exhausting. We are all human and we all need that break from our public life to re-root ourselves privately and take care of ourselves.
There are many studies observing the issues that social media has on individuals’ mental health. A paper published in the American Academy of Pediatrics, discusses the benefits and risks for teens and children on social media. Socialization improves for this age group with social media, but at many costs. There is an issue with cyber-bullying and online harassment as well as “Facebook depression.” They define this as a depression on-set after extreme social media use, which could be caused by the other risk factors associated with social media use.
With the issues associated with excessive social media use, it's no doubt that everyone should take a break or a social media cleanse of sorts to recenter and regain a focus on one’s mental health. Will Poulter is a prime example of getting that done and while also balancing his famous life!
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